Stanley Cup Playoffs featuring plenty of Olympians

In February, the world's best hockey players gathered in Milano-Cortina seeking gold. 

Now at start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, many of those very same players will set their sights on silver.

With the Stanley Cup up for grabs and the playoffs beginning April 18, those who left the 2026 Winter Olympics with a medal around their necks -- Team USA with gold, Team Canada with silver and Team Finland with bronze -- will get a chance to add a Stanley Cup ring to their collections. And those who went home disappointed will get a chance to make up for it. 

In all, 84 players representing 11 different countries at the Olympics -- Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and USA -- will finish their season in the playoffs.

The 2026 playoffs open with the Ottawa Senators taking on the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS), a matchup that has two players who took part in the Olympics. 

Here are just a few of the Olympic stars headed to the postseason:

Matt Boldy (Minnesota Wild, USA): It was a coming-out year for the 25-year-old forward -- and not just because of the goal he scored in the gold medal game against Canada. Boldy had an NHL career-high 85 points (42 goals, 43 assists) in 76 games, the goals total a whopping 11 more than his previous career-best of 31 in 2022-23. The No. 12 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft made his mark at 6:00 of the first period and later set up Jack Hughes for his heroics in overtime. It was an electric goal. Boldy lifted the puck to pass to himself to get between defensemen Cale Makar and Devon Toews, showing just how dynamic he can be.

Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins, Canada): Crosby's Olympics may not have ended the way he had hoped, both in terms of injury and results, but the Penguins and Team Canada captain has a chance to write a new ending in his return to the NHL playoffs for the first time in three seasons. Crosby, who scored the golden goal for Team Canada in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, sustained a lower-body injury in a quarterfinal win against Czechia, which cost him the rest of the tournament. The 38-year-old returned to the Penguins lineup March 18 and finished the season with 74 points (29 goals, 45 assists) in 68 games. He'll play his 181st NHL postseason game when the Penguins host the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round, breaking a tie with Tomas Holmstrom, Henri Richard and Brad Marchand for 40th in NHL history.

Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres, Sweden): Though Dahlin's Olympic run with Team Sweden ended with a 2-1 overtime loss to Team USA in the quarterfinals, the 26-year-old defenseman will get his first chance at the NHL playoffs. Buffalo's captain set an NHL career high of 74 points (19 goals, 55 assists) in 77 games despite dealing with difficult personal circumstances. His fiancée, Carolina Matovac, received a heart transplant last summer after a major heart failure while in France. Dahlin has played his entire eight-season NHL career for the Sabres.

Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights, USA): Eichel added a gold medal to the Stanley Cup ring he won with the Golden Knights in 2023. He was the top-line center for Team USA between Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, and had six points (two goals, four assists) in six games. The 29-year-old had 90 points (27 goals, 63 assists) in 74 games this season and is four points from 700 in the NHL. He averaged 21:12 of ice time, the second highest during his time in the League behind only the 22:06 for the Sabres in 2019-20.

Nikolaj Ehlers (Carolina Hurricanes, Denmark): Ehlers had an impressive debut season in Carolina after playing his first 10 in the NHL for the Winnipeg Jets. He had 71 points (26 goals, 45 assists) and is the second player in Hurricanes history (since 1997-98) to reach 70 points in his first season (Cory Stillman had 76 in 2005-06.) The mark is a new career high for Ehlers, 30, who finished his four games at the Olympics with three points (one goal, two assists), including the game-winning goal in a 4-2 win against Team Latvia on Feb. 16 to give Denmark its first win in an Olympics with NHL participation.

Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers, Canada): McDavid enters the playoffs trying to break through and win the Stanley Cup for the first time, after two runner-up finishes the past two seasons with the Oilers losing to the Florida Panthers in the 2024 and 2025 Final. The 29-year-old led the Olympics with 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in six games, three more than linemate Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks. He won his sixth Art Ross Trophy and first since 2022-23 with 134 points (48 goals, 86 assists), four more than Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov. The Oilers captain will play his 100th NHL playoff game (150 points; 44 goals, 106 assists in 96 games).

Martin Necas (Colorado Avalanche, Czechia): Necas might have been the biggest reason why Team Czechia got as far as it did at the Olympics before a 4-3 overtime loss to Team Canada in the quarterfinals. He had eight points (three goals, five assists) in five games at the tournament, a run that didn't end when he returned to the Avalanche. The 27-year-old forward finished the season with 38 points (16 goals, 22 assists) in his final 27 games and an NHL career-high 100 points (38 goals, 62 assists) in 78 games of his first full season with Colorado. Necas will try to build on that when he competes in the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season, the first five with the Hurricanes.

Mikko Rantanen (Dallas Stars, Finland): Though the Stars forward missed Team Finland's 6-1 win against Team Slovakia that clinched a bronze medal because of a lower-body injury, he had six points (two goals, four assists) in five Olympic games. Rantanen returned to the Stars on March 28 with a goal and an assist and finished the season with 77 points (22 goals, 55 assists) in 64 games. He had 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in 18 games to help the Stars reach the 2025 Western Conference Final, tied for seventh in the playoffs and the the most among players who did not reach the Stanley Cup Final.

Juraj Slafkovsky (Montreal Canadiens, Slovakia): Perhaps no single player did more for their team at the Olympics than Slafkovsky, who finished tied for fourth in scoring with eight points (four goals, four assists) in six games to help Team Slovakia make it to the bronze medal game. The No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft turned his promise into an NHL career-high 73 points (30 goals, 43 assists) in 82 games. Slafkovsky, a 22-year-old forward, was fourth on the Canadiens in scoring behind Nick Suzuki (101 points), Cole Caufield (88), and Lane Hutson (78).

Tim Stutzle (Ottawa Senators, Germany): This marks the second straight postseason for Stutzle and the Senators, and they're looking to build on their six-game loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2025 first round when they face the Hurricanes. Stutzle had a good showing against Toronto with five points (two goals, three assists). Though Team Germany lost 6-2 to Team Slovakia in the quarterfinals, Stutzle finished with six points (four goals, two assists) in five games. The 24-year-old forward had 83 points (34 goals, 49 assists) in 80 games for the Senators, his highest point total since he had 90 (39 goals, 51 assists) in 2022-23.

🇺🇸 United States (16 Players): Matt Boldy (F), Jack Eichel (F), Brock Faber (F), Jake Guentzel (F), Noah Hanifin (D), Quinn Hughes (D), Clayton Keller (F), Jackson LaCombe (D), Charlie McAvoy (D), Brock Nelson (F), Jake Oettinger (G), Josh Sanderson (D), Jaccob Slavin (D), Jeremy Swayman (G), Brady Tkachuk (F), Tage Thompson (F)

🇨🇦 Canada (15 players): Sidney Crosby (F), Drew Doughty (D), Brandon Hagel (F), Thomas Harley (D), Seth Jarvis (F), Darcy Kuemper, (G), Nathan MacKinnon (F), Cale Makar (D), Mitch Marner (F), Connor McDavid (F), Travis Sanheim (D), Mark Stone (F), Nick Suzuki (F), Shea Theodore (D), Devon Toews (D)

🇫🇮 Finland (15 players): Sebastian Aho (F), Joel Armia (F), Mikael Granlund (F), Miro Heiskanen (D), Roope Hintz (F), Henri Jokiharju (D), Oliver Kapanen (F), Joel Kiviranta (F), Joonas Korpisalo (G), Artturi Lehkonen (F), Esa Lindell (D), Olli Maatta (D), Nikolas Matinpalo (D), Rasmus Ristolainen (D), Mikko Rantanen (F)

🇸🇪 Sweden (14 players): Rasmus Andersson (D), Rasmus Dahlin (D), Joel Eriksson Ek (F), Filip Gustavsson (G), Victor Hedman (D), Pontus Holmberg (F), Marcus Johansson (F), Gabriel Landeskog (F), Erik Karlsson (D), Adrian Kempe (F), Elias Lindholm (F), Hampus Lindholm (D), Rickard Rakell (F), Jesper Wallstedt (G)

🇨🇿 Czechia (8 players): Lukas Dostal (G), Radek Faksa (F), Radkos Gudas (D), Tomas Hertl (F), Martin Necas (F), David Pastrnak, (F), Karel Vejmelka (G),  Dan Vladar (G)

🇩🇪 Germany (6 players): Leon Draisaitl (F), JJ Peterka (F), Josh Samanski (F), Nico Sturm (F), Tim Stutzle (F)

🇩🇰 Denmark (5 players): Frederik Andersen (G), Oliver Bjorkstrand (F), Nikolaj Ehlers (F), Lars Eller (F), Mads Sogaard (G)

🇨🇭 Switzerland (3 players): Kevin Fiala (F), J.J. Moser (D), Akria Schmid (G)

🇱🇻 Latvia (2 players): Zemgus Girgensons (F), Arturs Silovs (G)

🇸🇰 Slovakia (2 players): Erik Cernak (D), Juraj Slafkovsky (F)

🇫🇷 France (1 player): Alexandre Texier (F)